


Wash Me Away

by Baby_Doll



Series: Domesticated Dreams [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Disasters, Fighting, Fluff, Laundry, M/M, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 02:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17417081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baby_Doll/pseuds/Baby_Doll
Summary: Harry breaks the washing machine after he tries to fix it. Niall isn't happy with the result.





	Wash Me Away

**Author's Note:**

> Not edited.  
> I have never had braces. I don't know if you can eat chips the day after they take them off. The closest I've ever been to braces was at the dentist and those fake teeth they have with them on. Also, I have only been to a laundromat twice in my life and I just went in there to see both times. So, lets just have faith that H and N know how to properly wash clothes. 
> 
> There's no real plot, but I hope you enjoy. I'm sorry if it's boring. I just real loved this idea

Niall’s going to strangle Harry. He’s going to find his wispy haired husband and choke him. The sight alone makes Niall choke himself and what’s even more worse is that his socks are now soaked. He’s wearing soap soaked socks. Sure, the water is soap water, but just the feeling of wet socks is disgusting for Niall. 

He stands inside of the washing room and stares stoically at the bubbles seeping out of the washing machine onto the floor creating a mountain of them. There’s a good three inches of water on the floor and it’s slowly being sucked by the carpet in hallway. 

It must’ve happened overnight. Obviously, overnight because if it had happened during the day it wouldn’t have even happened at all. He specifically told Harry not to put in a load because the washing machine was broken and a repair person was coming to fix it this morning. 

The thing about this fiasco is that Harry had good intentions. Of course, Harry always has good intentions. The tool box is resting on top of the dryer and Harry is ace at doing laundry, but fuck his husband had an ego about other people, men especially, coming into their home and fixing stuff. 

From the look of the room, Niall guesses Harry put the blankets to wash. The blankets weren’t the items that were supposed to washed first. There was a certain order that Niall put the loads in when it was his turn to wash. 

Niall’s going to choke Harry because Harry couldn’t let something so simple go. Harry couldn’t let a repair person that specialized in washing machines fix the machine and now everything was a mess. Niall’s fingers started to shake at the sight and his eyes started to brim with tears. Everything was a mess and it was making his skin crawl. 

Niall felt hot tears run down his face as he sniffled. He shut eyes completely and tried to relax. He breathed in deeply for four seconds and then released for four seconds. A technique he had learned from his therapist. After feeling his body go lax for a second and trying to ignore his wet socks, he let his lungs and husband have at it

“HARRY! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE! NOW!” 

Niall’s throat feels a bit gruff after yelling. He hears barking coming towards him along with the voice of his husband, “Bernie calm down, dude,” Niall massages at his temples the closer the voice gets. “Oh.” 

Niall whips around to face Harry. His green eyes are wide, eyebrows up and a slight part in his pink lips. Harry’s face has gone pale at the sight and slowly his expression turns into a guilty one. His eyes go hooded and his lips turn into a sad pout. Bernie whines from where he stands next to Harry. He’s pushing his paws into the carpet and bringing them up. Niall shuffles forwards and feels how the water swishes at his feet. 

Niall coos as he bends toward, careful not step into the carpet. Niall strokes at Bernie’s gray fur on his face, “Go eat, Berns,” with those words Niall’s kisses his dog’s head and pats his dog to go away from this whole mess. 

“I thought I fixed it,” Harry says. Niall turns back to the mess. He doesn’t even want to look at Harry. 

“Does it look fixed to you?” Niall bends down and sticks a finger into the water and flicks it back at Harry. “You couldn’t wait one fucking day. One fucking night and it was my turn! Your turn was last week!” 

“I thought that —“ 

“Well stop thinking, Harry! Look at what your thinking ended up doing. Why couldn’t you just let some random person fix the machine! The dryer is probably now fucked up too!” Niall’s face hot and his eyes are wet again. Niall feels his chest go tighter and his heart starting to beat faster.

“I’m sorry,” Harry whispers. 

Niall sniffles and places his hands on his waist, “Everything’s ruined.” 

The washing machine had only started making weird noises two nights ago. Harry had put his gym shorts to wash. Niall personally went through the pockets to take anything out, but right as the cycle ended, the machine made a loud cracking sound that they could hear in the living room while watching some film. Nevertheless, the multiple shorts were clean, but the machine obviously wasn’t. They had tried to figure out the problem. Nothing seemed stuck or broken. They decided it was some interior problem. Niall should’ve guessed something would happen when he announced he was going to call the repair service and Harry stayed in the washing room instead of following him back. 

“I’m sorry,” Harry says. Niall hasn’t looked at him again. Harry did it out of good intentions, but some things weren’t for him and he didn’t understand. Niall hears the noise the water makes when Harry steps in the room. The water is freezing and Harry’s gasp confirms that Niall’s toes are probably frozen. Niall feels Harry gently ease his arms to his sides and wraps his own arms around Niall’s waist. Harry holds him tight and flush to his back and rest their temples side by side. “I’m so sorry. I just wanted it to fix it because it was stressing you out. I know it was stressing you out and I didn’t want you to feel like that anymore.” 

Niall turns to look at Harry. Huh. Both of them were crying, probably for different reasons but it was comforting in some sort. “I know, Harry. Let’s just clean this up before the person gets here. I’ll tell them to look at the dryer too.” 

Harry solemnly nods. Niall takes pity on him and leans in for a soft kiss. It makes both relax. Niall’s heart is now at its normal speed and his breathing is alright, but his body still feels tight. Plus, his wet socks are just making this worse. He huffs at the disgusting sensation. 

“How the heck do we clean this?” Niall asks and looks down at their feet. He was wearing ankle socks but Harry was wearing calf socks. It made Niall shiver in disgust. 

“Umm, we could use the outdoor vacuum since it’s waterproof.” Niall’s eyes widen at the idea. It was a good one but what if they got electrocuted. “The carpet can use a cleaning too. I’ll just borrow the carpet cleaner thingy from Gemma.” 

Niall nods at the carpet idea. It was something he wasn’t as worried about, “What about the clothes? Our blankets are drenched. I haven’t even separated the clothes into their colors.”

“We can go to the laundromat. The one we went to when we were living in the apartment.” 

They haven’t gone to laundromat in years. Back when they were younger, three years ago, and lived in an apartment complex they went once a week to wash clothes at the laundromat. The complex had its own but all three years they had lived there it was always “under renovation”- the renovation of the place was still going on when they moved out

“Yeah. Let’s just get all the shit together. Fuck, the person is going to come in 30 minutes. Please go get the vacuum.” 

Harry nods once and pulls him into a tight hug, “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s fine, Harry.” 

With that Niall kisses Harry once more. This time lingering a bit to show that he wasn’t mad anymore, just very worried. 

 

 

The person the shows up isn’t a total stranger. It’s Michal. Gemma’s husband and Gemma’s behind him with an excited smile. She has Lily propped on her hip as she sleeps away the morning. 

“I tagged along once I saw Michal’s schedule included you guys!” Gemma says happily as she walks in. “Also, I brought the carpet cleaner. Harry said you guys needed it. I can totally clean it for you!” 

Niall loves Gemma and now he loves her even more for offering to clean the carpet. “Thanks Gems. Harry really did something - uh Michael I’m so sorry and please excuse the mess that you’re about to see. Gemma, you can put Lily in the bedroom.”  

Michael and Gemma face’s said it all. Their eyes are wide and their mouths opened in shock. Harry still vacuuming the water up and the soaked blanket is on the floor. 

“Do you mind checking the dryer too?” Harry asks as he flips off the vacuum. “Also, were gonna go do laundry a few blocks away. So, when y’all leave can you lock all the doors.” 

Gemma shakes her head at the sight, “I would fucking divorce you.” 

 

 

The place is empty for a Saturday morning - from experience the weekends were packed. It’s more like noon by the time they managed to get everything they needed. It’s empty enough that Niall doesn’t feel bad that he uses multiple washing machines at once to make sure everything goes in at the same time. Harry’s gone to go exchange some bills for change and Niall’s already so tired. 

He looks around and it’s pretty much the same since the last time they came. The only difference was the better lighting inside. 

There’s a young girl sitting at one of the tables. She’s got her headphones on and a plate of food in front of her and she laughs out loud. She’s wearing an “Ophelia University” sweater that makes Niall reminisce about his and Harry’s university days. 

He remembers the Sunday night crowd at the laundromat. He and Harry struggling to keep awake long enough to finish. He remembers the multiple times he and Harry underestimated how much detergent they would need and frantically searching for coins to buy some off the vending machine. Niall smiles at the thought of that one time some lady stole their clothes. Niall tried to chase her down as Harry cried by the entrance. 

“I got food,” Harry says as he stands in front of Niall. He’s balancing a McDonald’s bag and Niall can see some of the grease staining the brown bag and two coffees. It smells absolutely delicious. “Let’s go sit at a table.” 

Niall stands as he follows Harry. Harry’s jacket is wet with raindrops and his hair is sticking up. It was freezing outside, the wind wasn’t making anything better. They managed to take everything in one trip. It had left them both red cheeked and panting for air. 

“Thanks Haz,” Niall says before he takes a sip of the coffee. It pipping hot and it burns his throat but it warms him. 

Harry hums in response and takes a huge bite of his burger. “Got change too,” Harry says with a mouth full of food. 

Niall smiles at him. It was nice. As weird as it sounded Niall enjoyed watching Harry eat. The way his tongue would stick out and he’d take a large amount of food at once. It reminded him of the day he had asked Harry in a date. 

 

 

_“So,” Niall says nervously, “I was thinking that maybe you wo—“ Niall stops mid sentence. He watches as Harry stuffs food in his mouth. Harry’s very pink tongue sticks out and Harry shoves a piece of sandwich and chips all at once._

_Harry smiles at him, “I have a big mouth.”_

_Niall laughs loudly. A passing student glares at them. It’s Thursday, it’s raining, and it just sucks. Niall smiles at Harry. His heart staring to pound faster. Harry was beautiful. Big green eyes, full pink lips, and dimples. Niall was seriously crushing hard on Harry. They had met a few weeks ago and Niall’s crush solidify when Harry showed up to his birthday party and shook his father’s hand and the proceeded to hug his mom._

_Niall didn’t even expect for Harry to show up. They were both in their first semester of university and ended up being lab partners for biology. They only spent two hours together every Monday, once a week, and occasionally saw each other around campus. They bonded over the fact that their lab time sucked and their instructor was clueless about pretty much the whole thing. They had clicked right away and the conversation never got awkward. Well may now it would._

_They were sitting outside. It was cold and windy, but Niall stupidly suggested to sit outside._

_Niall was going to ask Harry on date._

_Just the mere thought made Niall’s face burn and his hands tremble. Niall picked at his bag of chips as he thought about the flowers Harry brought to his mom. Niall had mentioned that his 19th birthday party was coming and how he hoped it wouldn’t rain. Harry had asked a “can I come” and Niall had laughed and said sure but he didn’t actually expect for Harry to text him asking for the address and then actually showing up._

_Niall crunched his chips carefully. He had gotten his braces off and his mouth was sore._

_“What were saying?” Harry asks. He’s wiping his mouth with a napkin and diligently stares at him._

_Yes a date. Niall was going to cry if he had read everything wrong. Niall was pretty sure Harry was gay or at least liked him. Louis said just to say it without pause._

_“Would you like to go on a date with me?”_

_The words are out in the air. Niall’s throat goes tight and he can’t believe he just did that._

_Harry’s cheeks tinted a lovely pink as he nodded his head. “Yes. Yeah. Totally.”_

_“Okay.”_

_Niall felt Harry’s feet slot in between his own feet._

 

“Remember when that weird lady stole our clothes?” Harry asks. He’s chewing on some fries with his eyes closed, like, if he was trying to vividly recreate the whole scene. 

“You cried while I chased the lady,” Niall says. 

“I was scared, Niall. She had a knife.”   

“She had our matching shirts we got at the fair. What was she going to do with those?” 

“At least you got them back,” Harry puckers his lips and leans over and gives him a grease filled kiss, “My hero.” 

“Shut up.” 

 

Niall thinks they will be out of the place no later than 4. The young girl is long gone, replaced by a boy and his parents. It was starting to slowly fill. A mom comes in with a baby strapped to her chest as she hauls a basket. A woman follows her with other baskets of clothes and Niall stares as they kiss in celebration of getting everything out of their car. 

 

As much Niall loved this laundromat and all the memories it stored of their first home, he wanted to be in his own home. Harry has his hand on his thigh and gives it a squeeze. It makes Niall giggle, “Stop that. We’re in public you sex crazed man.” 

Harry cackles, his laugh echoing through the building making people look at them with amused eyes, “A penny for your thoughts.” 

Niall sighs, “Harry. As much I love this place, we do have a home with our own machines. I just don’t understand why you have the need to fix things that you clearly don’t know how to fix.” 

Harry sighs back, “It stresses you out when something isn’t working or it’s messed up. I hate seeing you like that.” 

“Thank you for that, but Haz. There are people out there whose jobs are specifically to do certain things. For example, you are an expert at law. You’re a lawyer. Meanwhile, I’m a book editor. I’m not going to go defend someone in a court of law because that case is stressing you out. You’re not going to follow the process of publishing a book because you don’t know how to do that.” 

“I know, but it’s like — umm — I have the need to prove that I can do things.” 

“What?” 

“Remember when Liam came over and he replaced the outlets in the garage. Well, when he did that you looked at him like he built the whole house and just like you wanted to h—“ 

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Niall interrupts. “First, Liam did build the house. He’s in construction that’s why he knew how to fix the outlet. Secondly, I wasn’t looking at him or whatever. He’s our friend. I married you. I’ve been in love with you since I was 19. I am not going to leave you for Liam.” 

“I know but —“ 

“Harry. Okay. Remember when the first storm hit the same month we moved in and we needed to clean the gutter. James had offered to do it for free but instead you got a ladder and tried do it yourself, but you fell and broke your leg. Another one is when you got a concussion because you couldn’t wait for new bolts to come in. So when the cabinet door fell, it cracked your head and we had to go to hospital. Another one is when —“ 

“I get, Niall!”  

“Babe,” Niall pats Harry’s knee, “My point is that I love that you want to do stuff, but there are professionals that know what they are doing. You have gotten hurt before and every time you do my heart stops. So today with the washing machine it was just frustrating because I know you tried to fix it so it wouldn’t stress me out but it stresses me out more that something worse could’ve happened besides the flooding. What if you had gotten hurt or Bernie?” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I know, babe. Just no more of the fixing stuff you don’t know how to fix.” 

“Okay.” 

 

 

 

They’re hot and sweaty. Their bodies still tingling. Niall’s running a hand through Harry’s hair. The moon giving off enough light for them to look at each other. 

“I love you,” Niall whispers. 

“I love you, too. Always.” 

Harry’s large hand runs down Niall’s back. Stopping at the dip before his bum and then running it up again. 

“Promise not to fix anything you don’t know how to fix.” 

“I pro—“ 

There’s a loud crash downstairs and Bernie starting to bark. It sounded a lot like the faulty cabinet Harry “fixes” every few months. 

Harry bolts out of bed, “I’ll go get my tool box.” 

Niall sighs and follows to get the first aid kit. 

**Author's Note:**

> [My tumblr](http://www.peoniesmylove.tumblr.com/)


End file.
